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Koza Baptist Church Transition
On August 25, 2019, an installation service was held at Koza Baptist Church in Okinawa, Japan for their next lead pastor, Chris Eyre.
Koza began their search process upon the announcement from Pastor John Reimer that he was planning to return to his family in Oklahoma. The search process progressed from the middle of February through June of 2019. There were 83 applicants from a host of search mechanisms.
Pictured from left to right: John and Sherry Reimer (outgoing Lead Pastor), Betty and Bo Russell (Pastor Emeritus), Hisami and Chris Eyre (incoming Lead Pastor)
In June, the pastor search committee and elders made the nomination for Chris Eyre to serve as their next lead pastor. The nomination was subsequently confirmed with a vote of the Koza membership. The confirmation vote was held on Sunday the 28 th of July during all three worship services.
John Reimer served as the lead pastor of Koza for over 11 years. During his tenure, the church has seen a transition to an elder-led polity, expansion of missions to five key areas in the Pacific, the establishment of the Asia Baptist Network, and various other critical elements of growth for the Kingdom. John has been key in the affirmation of the call of many men to full-time ministry.
One, who was called and affirmed during John’s time as lead pastor, was Chris Eyre, who at the time of his initial call to full-time ministry was serving as the Chairman of Deacons for Koza.
Chris has been a member of Koza since June 2007. While serving as an Active Duty United States Marine Logistics Officer, Chris finished seminary with a Master’s in Christian Leadership in 2014. He retired after more than 25 years of active service and began serving as the Discipleship Pastor of Koza in 2015. During his time as the Discipleship Pastor, several staff transitions led him to enter the role of Executive Pastor, which is where he was serving when called to be the Lead Pastor.
Koza Baptist Church has been a dynamic witness for the Gospel of Christ in Okinawa and on mission with God since September 1963. The church was planted by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Foreign Mission Board and was originally supplied with missionary pastors supported by the Foreign Mission Board. In 1965, after purchasing land, Koza constructed its first church-owned facility in Okinawa City near Kadena Air Force Base.
During the 56 years of Koza’s history, there have been five lead pastors. Chris hopes to serve as long as the Lord allows and is thankful for the opportunity to continue to lead Koza to impact the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. •
